Yes, I have also noticed that the priority options do absolutely nothing that I can see to how/when etc anything gets done.

This is a higher priority than just about anything else at this stage, followed closely by the following:

I am also hopeful that at some point we will be able to select the worker assigned option and then pick who we want to do it, and then adjust the priorities of that particular worker as well.

As it stands, the game doesn't seem to accomplish much of anything. All you can do from what I can see, is click drag a box then assign gather options. You have no control that works on priorities, who does what, etc.

Messages get easily missed about members fighting something, of course, makes no real difference as you can't stop them from fighting regardless, they just attack until they die. Sorta mindless.

This lack of true control makes the 'game' meaningless in my mind.

The story and dialogs are easily missed in an over encumbered UI where you can have open text boxes all over the screen, with scrolling text from the workers, and no control over much of any of it.

Hopefully, these are self evident ideas and that the devs are already planning on adding those features sometime soon.

Yes, we agree this was the case so we've been working a lot on this, and in the coming version 0.0.0.10 you will see a big improvement in this area.

at some point we will be able to select the worker assigned option and then pick who we want to do it

We've made a design decision not to give the player this level of control. We realize it's a matter of taste, but we think that assigning specific characters to do specific tasks would take the game in the direction of a micro-management RTS game instead of a colony sim. We want to explore other ways the player can manage a colony, without the player feeling like a commander. Some of the ideas we have is more "policy" options so that you can set rationing level, ammo usage, night shifts and the way your colony deals with dilemmas about research and disease treatment. As we introduce more of such systems, you will get more stuff to do, despite not having direct control.

Our ambition is that you see life unfolding on the screen, that's why we take some control away from you and put it in the hands of the colonists. To reinforce this idea, we would like to introduce a "voting" mechanic where the character's different personalities will come into play, making you feel even more like you're the "group majority" (instead of a leader)

It takes time to get all this in place because the AI needs to be super sharp, that's why set a high priority on getting rid of behavior bugs and also polishing the interface so that you will always be aware of what's going on.

Messages get easily missed about members fighting something

Hmmm, you get notified in the way that the event log at the bottom of the screen will start spamming "emergency " messages on top of the regular event window. Also the comm feed window to the left will say messages like "AAAAAAAAH" etc. And people will also start running to each others aid when one of them is in trouble. Is there any specific suggestion you could make so we can improve this feedback?

you can't stop them from fighting regardless, they just attack until they die. Sorta mindless.

We keep polishing the way they avoid threats, handle weapons and flee from danger, so that it hopefully, at some point, will look rational to you.

over encumbered UI

The general layout of the UI windows, yes, it's cluttered, especially on small laptop screens, and we have plans to have the inventory and task windows appear at the right side of the screen to free up space in the middle.

Hope you'll find that the game improves over time, as we address these things.

Well, you have at least 3 of us DF players still here and the thread on our own forum is still periodically active. The general consensus was that there was only 40 mins of gameplay and until that changes most of the people were going to leave it alone and the others were waiting to buy it until they saw how it turned out. A few have been unhappy with the speed of gameplay additions but mostly everyone is excited and happy for you. Personally I start a game with every patch and play for an hour or two. As a developer myself I know how hard it is to meet consumer expectations and keep up with content demand(impossible). You are doing very well and I am happy I supported you early on. Cheers

Yes, the game will start to shine once we get creature behavior more detailed (once animals can eat) ..that's when you will start to get many hours of emergent gameplay and you will see the "tug-of war" between humans and nature that we have been promising. At that point, the existing systems such as food storage, camp placement and food types will become much more important factors and the game will take on a life of its own without us having to add lots and lots of content to keep it fresh.

So this is our main priority (alongside bug fixing and Save/load.)At the present stage, the game can feel a bit scripted and therefore limited in the time you can spend with it before you've seen it all. But it's been important for us to get the basics working first, because emergent gameplay will add another layer of complexity and bugs.

Thanks for supporting us - I'm going to have a look at the DF thread to see if there's any feedback I might have missed.

I am also a DF player, and your team is doing a amazing job. I am not a developer due to lack of were to start learning the ropes. I know it takes a lot of work to create a game in general. Keep doing what your doing! Create your brain child, and keep listing to us people like you are doing. I for one have bought your game already, and love the direction your taking, and the detail you working to put into it. DF rocks! It's so hard some times ;D